Meet the Team - South East Imaging Academy

Tony Newman-Sanders MA FRCR FRCP - Academy Co-Lead

Dr Newman-Sanders has been a Consultant Radiologist for over 20 years with special interests in musculoskeletal imaging and clinical informatics.

He has held a variety of leadership roles including Clinical Director for Emergency Care and subsequently Medical Director at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust.

He was Clinical Lead for the National PACS Programme from 2006-2016 and from 2014-2017 Medical Director at the Health Innovation Network, South London.

In April 2016 he was appointed Clinical Director for Diagnostic Imaging at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and since April 2019 he has been Chief of Cancer and Diagnostic Services and Associate Medical Director for Digital.

From 2016-2019 he was National Clinical Director for Diagnostics at NHS England and is now Regional Clinical Advisor for Imaging and Co-Lead of the Image training Academy for NHS Southeast region.

Stuart Higginson BSc (Hons) - Academy Co-Lead

Stuart Higginson has worked as a Diagnostic Radiographer and Imaging Manager for over 10 years with experience in research, service development, and workforce transformation.

Focused on enabling others to succeed and progress, Stuart is committed to developing supportive learning environments that help imaging professionals and ancillary team members build confidence, enhance their capabilities, and access opportunities to grow.

Stuart joins the South East Imaging Academy as Co-Lead in a seconded capacity from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, where he works as an Operations Lead in Imaging. He has recently completed a Senior Leader Apprenticeship and has ambitions to progress to an MBA programme in 2026. 

‘I aim to further develop the South East Imaging Academy as a sustainable educational hub, providing imaging team members with access to learning and development opportunities aligned to the regions workforce and service needs.’

Mariesa Taylor-Allkins BSc (Hons), MSc - Senior Sonographer Lead

Mariesa is passionate about aligning academic learning with clinical practice through innovation as Senior Sonography Lead at the South East Imaging Academy.

She also has two multi-professional roles. Lead Practice Educator for Advancing Practice, Great Ormond Street Hospital Learning academy and Senior Academic Lead for Diagnostics and Clinical Management (Advanced Practice MSc, Middlesex University).

Mariesa is a founding member of the Diagnostic Imaging Practice Educator special interest group (DIP-SIG) and a facilitator for the Advancing Practice in Radiography  special interest group (APRAD SIG).

Mariesa is a Diagnostic Radiographer/Sonographer with a special interest in paediatric imaging.

‘I hope to create a safe learning space across the South-East and will bring parity to learning opportunities. I value co-production with clinicians who work in the services and understand the patient need.’

Hollie Dalton - Project Officer

Hollie is the Project Officer for the South East Imaging Training Academy, part of the wider Cancer and Diagnostics programme. In this role, she supports the coordination and delivery of key initiatives designed to strengthen imaging education and workforce development across the region.

Before joining the Academy, Hollie worked across several teams, including business intelligence, postgraduate dental and primary care, where she focused on workforce, education, and training. Her experience across these areas has given her a strong foundation in programme delivery, stakeholder engagement, and supporting high‑quality learning environments.

Paul Chapman - Adminstrator

Paul is an Administrator for the South East Training Academy. He is responsible for facilitating the Radiology Resident FRCR Teaching Programmes across the Academy in conjunction with the programme leads to deliver high quality focused teaching to residents at each level of their training.

Paul’s other position as an education coordinator within the University Hospitals Southampton Radiology department has given him a very good understanding of post graduate education processes including IT systems within Radiology and the NHS as a whole.